Role of Brain Teasers in Providing Fun
Brain teasers are essentially designed to provide fun and enjoyment but that is not the only purpose of brain teasers. They test the logical skills of the person encountering such brain teasers. On the face of it, brain teasers might look quite easy. In fact, the basic brain teasers offered by various websites would be simple ones. However, lot of advanced brain teasers are also presented, some of which had not even been solved until now.
An interesting brain teaser that happened in real life is presented here. One person wanted to buy a chicken and its cost was quoted as $50 by the shop assistant. That person had only $25 with him and hence, he looked around. He spotted a close relative sitting in a nearby roadside caf, sipping coffee. He approached that relative and explained his predicament. The relative immediately offered him $25 and that person bought the chicken for $50.
At that time, the owner of the shop arrived. He was well known to the buyer of the chicken. Hence, he scolded the shop assistant for quoting a higher rate, stating that the actual cost of the chicken was only $45. The buyer was returned $5 immediately. The relative of the buyer asked him to offer a tip of $2 to the shop assistant, so that he would behave properly in future with all the clients. Now, the buyer had $3 with him and he returned $1.5 to his relative.
At this point, the relative got a doubt. He said that he had received back $1.5 and hence, his investment in the chicken was only $23.5 by deducting $1.5 from his contribution of $25. The buyer's investment would also work out to the same amount. These two amounts of $23.5 each would add up to $47. The tip given to the shop assistant was $2. All these totaled to $49 only. However, the original investment was $50. The relative started wondering where the balance $1 had gone. The buyer of the chicken also was unable to answer. Do you have an answer?
If you think deeply, the answer is somewhat simple. Instead of returning the $1.5 to the relative, if the buyer keeps the entire $3 with him and later returns the $25 borrowed from the relative, the $50 accrued due to their contribution could be reduced by the balance $3 with the buyer and the tip of $2 given to the shop assistant to arrive at the cost of $45, the cost of the chicken.
Another brain teaser is as follows: The total sum of the ages of the members of three families is the same. Surprisingly, the sum of the squares of their ages and the sum of the cubes of their ages are also same. Each person in every one of these families has a different age and the maximum age does not exceed 100. What could be the smallest sum of the ages of the members in each family? Try to find out an answer. You could try this teaser involving 4 families also with the same conditions.
An interesting brain teaser that happened in real life is presented here. One person wanted to buy a chicken and its cost was quoted as $50 by the shop assistant. That person had only $25 with him and hence, he looked around. He spotted a close relative sitting in a nearby roadside caf, sipping coffee. He approached that relative and explained his predicament. The relative immediately offered him $25 and that person bought the chicken for $50.
At that time, the owner of the shop arrived. He was well known to the buyer of the chicken. Hence, he scolded the shop assistant for quoting a higher rate, stating that the actual cost of the chicken was only $45. The buyer was returned $5 immediately. The relative of the buyer asked him to offer a tip of $2 to the shop assistant, so that he would behave properly in future with all the clients. Now, the buyer had $3 with him and he returned $1.5 to his relative.
At this point, the relative got a doubt. He said that he had received back $1.5 and hence, his investment in the chicken was only $23.5 by deducting $1.5 from his contribution of $25. The buyer's investment would also work out to the same amount. These two amounts of $23.5 each would add up to $47. The tip given to the shop assistant was $2. All these totaled to $49 only. However, the original investment was $50. The relative started wondering where the balance $1 had gone. The buyer of the chicken also was unable to answer. Do you have an answer?
If you think deeply, the answer is somewhat simple. Instead of returning the $1.5 to the relative, if the buyer keeps the entire $3 with him and later returns the $25 borrowed from the relative, the $50 accrued due to their contribution could be reduced by the balance $3 with the buyer and the tip of $2 given to the shop assistant to arrive at the cost of $45, the cost of the chicken.
Another brain teaser is as follows: The total sum of the ages of the members of three families is the same. Surprisingly, the sum of the squares of their ages and the sum of the cubes of their ages are also same. Each person in every one of these families has a different age and the maximum age does not exceed 100. What could be the smallest sum of the ages of the members in each family? Try to find out an answer. You could try this teaser involving 4 families also with the same conditions.
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